Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Not long after, the police arrived at the scene, seeing the sealed scene and the crowd, the leading officer was also stunned.

”Who called the police?”

”It was me.”

Fang Zheng walked out from the crowd and nodded towards the officer.

”After discovering the corpse, I immediately sealed off the entire scene. Currently, no personnel have entered the room; all relevant persons are in the lounge. I appointed someone to watch them; no one has left the lounge during this time.”

”Who are you?”

When the expert makes a move, you can tell they are different. Needless to say, Fang Zheng’s skill in preserving the scene and detaining all related personnel was clearly not ordinary.

”My name is Fang Zheng, I am the president of Umbrella Corporation and a special advisor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.”

Fang Zheng also presented his credentials.

”This time, I’m just returning to my country for a vacation, not to investigate a case; this is a coincidence.”

Fang Zheng had to clarify first, even though the police as a group are not as sensitive as the army, his current identity is still with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. If they mistakenly suspect a cross-national investigation, it would be troublesome.

”Oh?”

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s response, the officer took the credentials, looked it over carefully, and then smiled at Fang Zheng.

”So you are the mind-reading detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.”

”Hm?”

What the hell?

Fang Zheng was stunned by the officer’s words; since when did my reputation travel overseas and back home?

”Hello, I am Li Bo from the city’s criminal investigation team.”

At this moment, the officer warmly reached out and shook Fang Zheng’s hand.

”To be honest, previously, some Japanese colleagues came to our place for training. At that time, we heard them say there was an expert on micro-expression at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and the rumors were he didn’t even need the suspect’s testimony. Just observing their expressions could provide answers, like mind reading, and he’s one of our own Chinese people... Haha, didn’t expect to meet here, what a coincidence.”

”Indeed quite a coincidence. Honestly, it’s not that impressive; micro-expressions aren’t all-powerful, and mind reading is even more fictitious. I’m just more skilled in observation than the average person.”

It’s called praising others, when they start the conversation, Fang Zheng naturally returns the favor with commercial flattery.

”Hahaha, no need to be modest. In fact, we envy it; if only we had such skills, it would be great. Those damned bastards’ mouths are tight, getting anything out of them is almost impossible. By the way, Mr. Fang Zheng, would you be available to give a lecture at our police station? Though we’re not saying we’ll immediately learn micro-expression analysis skills, it would be nice for everyone to see the development of international criminal investigation technology.”

”Of course, no problem... But for now, let’s examine the scene first.”

”Sure, Mr. Fang Zheng, please join us.”

”Alright.”

Soon, Fang Zheng followed Officer Li into the scene and began the reconnaissance work.

”The deceased is the circus troupe leader, Yang Wang, cause of death is a gunshot wound to the head...”

The situation at the scene is clear, but there are some doubts.

”Mr. Fang Zheng, what is your opinion?”

After a brief autopsy, Officer Li looked at Fang Zheng, who nodded.

”This case is indeed somewhat strange, you see...”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng pointed to the wall.

”Are you referring to the character ’Spring’?”

”Yes, I would like the forensic team to appraise this character’s blood to determine when it was written.”

”Is there a problem with this blood character?”

Officer Li was still trying to understand why the perpetrator wrote the character ”Spring,” and was surprised upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words.

”Of course there’s a problem, this character is too complete.”

”Complete?”

”Exactly.”

Fang Zheng walked to the wall.

”Let’s assume someone committed murder; they certainly would write the blood character immediately after killing, while the deceased was still fresh, and the blood hasn’t coagulated. If the perpetrator wrote with fresh blood at the time, there would be a lot of blood marks flowing downward on the wall.”

”But this character is quite complete.”

Upon hearing this, Officer Li understood Fang Zheng’s point. If the perpetrator used ”fresh blood,” the character ”Spring” would not be so complete. But this ”Spring” character is clearly complete, which suggests someone wrote it on the wall sometime after the victim died.

”Secondly, why is the victim soaked with water?”

Fang Zheng looked at the corpse in front of him. At this point, the circus troupe leader was seated on a chair, leaning his body forward with his head against the wall, drenched in water, and the nearby empty fish tank indicated the water clearly came from the fish tank.

”Although judging from the scene, it’s possible the leader and the perpetrator knocked over the fish tank during the fight, getting soaked. However...”

Fang Zheng turned his head to look at the forensic pathologist on-site, who shook his head.

”No evidence of a struggle was found on the body, only a fatal gunshot to the head.”

”So it’s quite strange, isn’t it?”

”Indeed it is.”

At this point, Officer Li furrowed his brows. From the initial scene, it indeed seemed like both sides struggled and then the perpetrator shot Commander Yang Wang dead. But upon closer inspection, it revealed the situation was entirely different, not to mention the strange blood character, and the corpse being drenched... all of it was very unusual.

”Then Mr. Fang Zheng, what is your opinion?”

”My opinion? Simple, I think this is a suicide case.”

”...... What?”

Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned; Yang Xiaolong jumped up agitatedly.

”You say my father committed suicide? How is that possible?!”

”But Mr. Fang Zheng, we haven’t found the murder weapon at the scene.”

At this point, Officer Li also questioned in confusion. If it was a suicide, then the murder weapon should be at the scene; however, they searched everywhere and did not find the gun, so everyone initially concluded this should be a murder case.

”It’s simple, since the murder weapon isn’t at the scene, it indicates it was certainly picked up by someone, so...”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng looked up, gazing at the people standing at the doorway.

”Miss Yang Liling, please hand over the murder weapon.”

”What?!!!”

Upon hearing this, everyone present was once again stunned, even Kindaichi and Miyuki were surprised as they looked at the young girl beside them, unsure of what to say.

”Don’t talk nonsense!!”

At this moment, Yang Xiaolong stepped forward again, shielding Yang Liling in front of him, glaring fiercely at Fang Zheng.

”What evidence do you have to say Liling took that gun?”

”I am a micro-expression expert. Simply put, I can see through a person’s thoughts through their expressions.”

Fang Zheng chuckled and looked at Yang Liling.

”Miss Yang Liling, to be honest, you did call out quite forcefully at the time, but unfortunately, you don’t have the talent for acting. In fact, the moment I saw you, I knew you were hiding something. That’s why I requested that no one leave the scene and act without permission.”

”Just this?”

”Of course, not just this.”

Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders and looked at Shiho Nishimura.

”Miss Nishimura, can I ask, when did Miss Yang Liling go to the commander’s room?”

”Well... right after we left the stage, she went to the commander’s room immediately, she didn’t even have time to remove her makeup...”

”That fits.”

Fang Zheng nodded his head and looked at Yang Liling again.

”We went to the backstage only after everyone had dispersed, which took about five minutes. You went to the commander’s room as soon as you stepped off the stage, and it takes less than a minute to walk from the commander’s room to the backstage. In other words, calculating according to the normal time of discovering the body, you should have already called out before we entered the backstage. So, Miss Yang Liling, can you tell us what you were doing in those last few minutes? Were you brewing emotions?”

”..........”

Upon hearing this, Yang Liling’s face immediately turned pale, while Fang Zheng shook his head and looked at Officer Li, who immediately gave the order.

”Someone, take her for a body search!”

”Yes!”

Soon, the police found a pistol on Yang Liling, and faced with the factual evidence, Yang Liling admitted to doing it herself—as Fang Zheng said, Commander Yang Wang committed suicide; she saw the body when she walked into the room. However, because Yang Liling liked that gun, she planned to take it secretly and, to mislead others, she used blood to write that word, creating the illusion of a murder scene...

Upon hearing Yang Liling’s confession, Officer Li was also speechless, as the motive for the crime was rather bizarre. Nonetheless, tampering with the scene and stealing the murder weapon constitutes a crime, so Officer Li ordered Yang Liling to be taken away, and as for Commander Yang Wang’s case, it naturally closed as suicide... well, that would have been the case.

But Fang Zheng secretly called Officer Li over.

”Officer Li, do you want to crack a big case?”

”A big case? Mr. Fang, what do you mean?”

”Look at this gun.”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng handed the gun, stored in the evidence bag, to Officer Li. It was a very small pistol, even smaller than a palm, making it a highly concealed and delicate firearm.

”This is... a Derringer?”

”That’s right, Officer Li. It’s very difficult to buy this kind of pistol in China.”

For Kindaichi and the others, they might not dwell on this, but Fang Zheng, being a native, naturally knew the environment of the 90s. It’s not surprising if some people had channels to buy a few Black Star pistols, as those often appeared in Hong Kong police films back in the day, but a Derringer is authentic Western lineage. This gun once became famous for being used in the assassination of President Lincoln, and generally speaking, Chinese people couldn’t possibly buy such a gun.

Especially in mainland China. Even if individuals have guns, they’re mostly leftover rifles or something like a Type 54 pistol, it’s unthinkable for anyone to have a Derringer.

And in China, firearm-related cases are always major cases, not to mention, even if Commander Yang wasn’t dead, the mere possession of this Derringer would have made him a key suspect.

If he weren’t dead, he’d be in the precinct being questioned on where this gun came from, where it was bought, and through which channels it was procured...

”There’s one more thing, I suggest you check this circus’s finances.”

”Finances?”

”Yes, I remember the members of this circus live in a certain acrobatics village on the mainland, which is quite strange. Where did they get the money to buy a passenger ship?”

Indeed, Fang Zheng had this question the moment he saw the passenger ship. In the 90s China, as they claimed, they began touring performances ten years ago, which is the 80s, and in 80s China, mainland, who would have the money to buy a passenger ship?

Of course, it’s not altogether impossible, like a certain Macau boss saying he wanted to remodel the Varang into a casino and simply having the money to do so.

But this acrobatics troupe consisted of people from a relatively remote and impoverished village in mainland China, and there was no mention of anyone having overseas connections. More importantly, Fang Zheng seriously doubted, could they even break even relying solely on the circus performances?

It’s just like buying a car, you don’t just spend money to buy the car, and after buying it, you have to maintain it, refuel it, repair it, which is a lasting expenditure. The same is true for passenger ships; it’s not a simple game where you buy and use. Passenger ships also require maintenance, upkeep, transport supplies, etc.

Frankly speaking, given the current level of consumption, Fang Zheng doubts if the circus’s ticket sales can even cover the cost of fuel money.

These questions, combined with the Western-rooted pistol appearing before them, easily lead one to think about some unsavory business dealings.

”I understand.”

Officer Li wasn’t a fool, he immediately understood the implications and nodded forcefully.

”I’ll immediately lock down the passenger ship, and from now on, no one can enter or exit at will, we need to seal all accounts. We’ll conduct a thorough search of the entire passenger ship.”

”And their home.”

”Yes, and their home.”

Officer Li was extremely excited at this point, nodding vigorously.

”Thank you, Mr. Fang. I’ll request instructions from the higher-ups now, and once the case is done, I’ll treat you to a meal at the most authentic restaurant!”

”Then I’ll be waiting for your good news.”

Fang Zheng chuckled again, then lowered his voice.

”By the way, keep that Yang Liling for a few more days, her bizarre reason seems made up, her reason for hiding the gun isn’t likely as simple as ’for fun’.”

”Understood, leave it to me.”

Officer Li was an experienced cop, and the meaning behind Fang Zheng’s gaze was clear to him, so he nodded before turning away.

And it was only at this point that Kindaichi, who had been anxiously standing by, hurried over.

”Mr. Fang Zheng, what were you talking about with that officer?!”

At this point, Kindaichi was frantically scratching his ears, looking like a restless monkey, he had his own views on the case. Unfortunately, Fang Zheng and Officer Li’s conversation was in Chinese, so he could only worry as he couldn’t join in. Seeing Officer Li leave energetically, he could guess that the officer had surely found some useful clues, and hurried over to inquire.

Faced with his question, Fang Zheng just silently glanced at him.

”When grown-ups are talking, kids shouldn’t interrupt.”

You pulled me into a murder case, I haven’t settled that account with you yet!